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Signs of water seen on planet outside solar system

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17 years 7 months ago #44388 by Seanie_Morris
Copied from a news article on Yahoo.com today.

Evidence of water has been detected for the first time in a planet outside our solar system, an astronomer said on Tuesday, a tantalizing find for scientists eager to know whether life exists beyond Earth.

Travis Barman, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, said water vapor has been found in the atmosphere of a large, Jupiter-like gaseous planet located 150 light years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. The planet is known as HD 209458b.

Other scientists reported in February that they were unable to find evidence of water in this planet's atmosphere, as well as another Jupiter-like planet.

"I'm very confident," Barman said in an interview. "It's definitely good news because water has been predicted to be present in the atmosphere of this planet and many of the other ones for some time."

Lowell Observatory, a privately owned astronomical research institution, announced the finding, which has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. The research was backed by
NASA, it said.

The detection of the presence of water vapor was possible because this planet, from the vantage point of Earth, orbits directly in front of its star every 3-1/2 days, allowing crucial measurements to be made. It is what is known as a transiting planet.

Scientists searching for signs of life beyond Earth are keen to learn about the presence of water on other planets -- both in and beyond our solar system -- because water is thought to be fundamental to the existence of life.

Barman noted that a Jupiter-like gaseous planet such as this one, as opposed to a rocky one like Earth, is highly unlikely to harbor life, and said the finding about water vapor in its atmosphere does not answer one way or another questions about the existence of extraterrestrial life.

'PART OF PUZZLE'

The findings, he said, "are not adequate to really address a question as deep and profound as the existence of life elsewhere. We're not there yet."

"Certainly this is part of that puzzle -- understanding the distribution of water in other solar systems is important for understanding whether or not conditions for life are possible. The presence of water does not exclude the possibility of life, but it doesn't mean it's there, either," Barman added.

He said his findings do provide good reason to believe other planets beyond our solar system also have water vapor in their atmospheres.

The conclusions stemmed from an analysis of
Hubble Space Telescope measurements by Harvard University's Heather Knutson and new theoretical models developed by Barman, Lowell Observatory said.

Water is plentiful on Earth and has been found elsewhere in our solar system, for example in large deposits of ice at the north and south poles of Mars.

Planet HD 209458b also was the first planet outside the solar system found with an atmosphere and the first detected transiting planet. There are more than 200 known planets outside our solar system.


Seanie.

Midlands Astronomy Club.
Radio Presenter (Midlands 103), Space Enthusiast, Astronomy Outreach Co-ordinator.
Former IFAS Chairperson and Secretary.

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17 years 7 months ago #44395 by Mike
Replied by Mike on topic H2O
Thanks Seanie
That’s very interesting news indeed, I wonder if any more planets will be found with water vapour in its atmosphere, especially smaller rocky terrestrial type planets (time will tell as technology improves in this regards i guess)!

Clear skies
Mike

I83 Cherryvalley Observatory

After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say; "I WANT TO SEE THE MANAGER".

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17 years 7 months ago #44396 by Seanie_Morris
Replied by Seanie_Morris on topic Re: Signs of water seen on planet outside solar system
It is interesting Mike. It makes one wonder: if some of these Jupiter-sized planets have water on them now, then what happened with our own Jupiter in the past? There is much we do not know.

Another funny thing about these planets (some of which have 'evidence' of water) is that they orbit close to their parent star in rapid orbits. How does water exist on them at all then?!

Midlands Astronomy Club.
Radio Presenter (Midlands 103), Space Enthusiast, Astronomy Outreach Co-ordinator.
Former IFAS Chairperson and Secretary.

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17 years 7 months ago #44399 by amckinstry
Its possible that the water is brought-up from the interior of the
planet by escaping hydrogen: in 2004 Carbon and Oxygen were
observed in the atmosphere (of HD 209458b), believed to be
brought aloft in the same way.

It leads to some interesting questions as to the interior of the planet.

Further details, for those who like their science from the source:
arxiv.org/abs/0704.1114

- Alastair

Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist - Kenneth Boulding (Economist)

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